Monday 17 January 2011

What Done Did Happen at the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards

It was 5:00pm PST, the fine and foxy A-listers were all seated in the ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and all eyes were on Beverly Hills, California for the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards. Once described as "foreplay for the Oscars" by funnyman Robin Williams, the ceremony is a celebration of the best in movies and TV of the past year. Well, according to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The night kicked off with the glitz and glamour of the red carpet parade, with celebs of the TV, film and music industry being asked "who" they're wearing by interviewers as if they're Buffalo Bill, clad in the skins of their recently-murdered victims. Helena Bonham Carter looked like a drawing made by her gothic-by-nature husband, while Christian Bale seemed to have thought he was going to a Jesus Christ fancy-dress party. Photographers flashed their cameras, celebrities posed, and somebody forgot Hugh Laurie's name, shouting "You! You!!" at the acclaimed "House" actor.

Man-with-the-maniacal-cackle Ricky Gervais took to the stage and commenced the show's three-hour-long proceedings with some risqué humour, including references to Tom Cruise's sexual orientation and why the bloody hell "The Tourist" was in the running for three awards. The audience chuckled and gasped as the controversial comedian -- who hosted last year's grand spectacle -- insulted damn near half the room.

As per usual, thank-you speeches were timed by a 30-second counter positioned in full view of the podium, after which elevator music would play to tell the recipient to shut up and sit back down. This was ignored by the first winner of the night, Christian Bale for his supporting performance in "The Fighter," going on and on, name-dropping for two minutes before looking into the camera and saying the award was for his daughter. Aawwwr.

The show went on with much ease, with TV series "Boardwalk Empire" receiving two awards in a row -- one for Mr. Pink, Steve Buscemi; and another for Best Television Series - Drama. "Burlesque" thankfully only won in the category of Best Song in a Motion Picture, while "The Social Network" showed its first sign of success, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross presented with the Best Original Score award.

Hailee Steinfeld (yay!) and Justin Bieber (boo!) presented Lee Unkrich with the accolade for Best Animated Film, the "Toy Story 3" director asking if the two teens were even born when the first "Toy Story" film was released. I'm doubting Bieber was. He's, like, 12, right?

Annette Bening beat her "The Kids Are All Right" co-star Julianne Moore for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical, while Al Pacino and Claire Danes gave humble speeches for their wins in HBO TV movies "You Don't Know Jack" and "Temple Grandin." Doesn't Pacino get nominated for everything he's in?

An absent Laura Linney won Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Series for her performance in "The Big C" just before the brilliant Jim Parsons took to the stage to receive his award for "The Big Bang Theory." Sheldon for the win! Melissa Leo became another acting honour for "The Fighter," knocking out co-star Amy Adams for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

Matt Damon introduced the Cecil B. DeMille Award -- which went to Robert De Niro -- by lightheartedly claiming he'd never heard of the "Taxi Driver" legend. Following a lovely montage of De Niro's career (which stupidly contained a clip from "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle"), the 67-year-old strolled onto the stage and read a playful 4-minute speech, in which he poked fun at himself and laid into "Little Fockers," his latest film. "It's OK, we all have our jobs to do," said De Niro. My respect for the man just goes up and up.

There were no real surprises in the Best Actor or Actress in a Drama categories, with Colin Firth winning for "The King's Speech" and Natalie Portman for "Black Swan." Paul Giamatti was a worthy champion for the Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical rank, claiming in his acceptance speech that he was "a little jacked up because [he'd eaten] five boxes of the free Godiva chocolates." You have to love this man.

Scattered throughout the show were clips from each and every film in the two Best Motion Picture categories, most introduced by members of the cast. Andrew "Spider-Man" Garfield, giving the brief blurb for "The Social Network," couldn't say "inspiringly written" to save his life, having to repeat it four times while laughing along with the audience. Bruce Willis, introducing "Red," was called "Ashton Kutcher's dad" by a cheeky Gervais. And Megan Fox probably wasn't even taking what she was saying seriously as she tried to read aloud positive things about the Johnny Depp/Angelina Jolie mess that was "The Tourist."

"Glee" was the big TV winner of the night, nabbing Best Supporting Actress for Jane Lynch, Best Supporting Actor for Chris Colfer, and Best TV Series - Comedy/Musical. "The Kids Are All Right" was a very worthy recipient for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical, although it was the only film in the category worthy of any award.

And the rightful conqueror of the night was David Fincher's "The Social Network," deservedly accepting four awards -- Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Score and Best Motion Picture - Drama. Does this mean that either the Facebook biopic or "The Kids Are All Right" will win the grand prizes at the Academy Awards? Not necessarily, as "Avatar" was the big winner of last year's Golden Globes, yet only received a nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars -- "The Hurt Locker" was the appropriate champion there. Oh well, I'm sure the Academy will see some sense and agree with the Golden Globes to make "The Social Network" their perfectly-matched friend. You know it's only right.

Here's a full list of all winners in order of presentation.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale -- "The Fighter"

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Katey Sagal -- "Sons Of Anarchy"

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
"Carlos"

Best Supporting Actor, Series/Mini-Series/Television Movie
Chris Colfer -- "Glee"

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series - Drama
Steve Buscemi -- "Boardwalk Empire"

Best Television Series - Drama
"Boardwalk Empire"

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
"You Haven't Seen The Last of Me" -- Burlesque

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross -- "The Social Network"

Best Animated Feature Film
"Toy Story 3"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Annette Bening -- "The Kids Are All Right"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie
Al Pacino -- "You Don't Know Jack"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Movie
Claire Danes -- "Temple Grandin"

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Aaron Sorkin -- "The Social Network"

Best Supporting Actress in a Series/Mini-Series/TV Movie
Jane Lynch -- "Glee"

Best Foreign Language Film
"In a Better World" (Denmark)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Laura Linney -- "The Big C"

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Jim Parsons -- "The Big Bang Theory"

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Melissa Leo -- "The Fighter"

Cecil B. DeMille Award
Robert De Niro

Best Director - Motion Picture
David Fincher -- "The Social Network"

Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical
"Glee"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Paul Giamatti -- "Barney's Version"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Natalie Portman -- "Black Swan"

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
"The Kids Are All Right"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Colin Firth -- "The King's Speech"

Best Motion Picture - Drama
"The Social Network"

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